PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION.

Moderation in Disputes. When we are in a condition to overthrow falsehood and error, we ought not to do it with vehemence, nor insultingly truth, and with answers, full of mildness, to refute and with an air of contempt; but to lay open the the falsehood.

Anecdote. An amiable youth, lamented
deeply, the recent death of a most affectionate
parent. His companion made an effort to
console him, by the reflection, that he had al-
ways behaved towards the deceased with du-
ty, tenderness and respect. "So I thought,"
replied the son, "while my parent was liv
ing; but now I recollect, with pain and sor-
row, many instances of disobedience, and
neglect, for which, alas! it is too late to
make atonement."

Happy the school-boy! did he prize his bliss,
Twere ill exchang'd-for all the dazzling gems,
That gaily sparkle in ambition's eye;
His are the joys of nature, his the smile,
The cherub smile of innocence and health,
Sorrow unknown, or, if a tear be shed,
He wipes it soon: for hark! the cheerful voice
Of comrades calls him to the top, or ball;
Away he hies, and clamors as he goes,
With glee, which causes him to tread on air.

Reason. Without reason, as on a tempestuous sea, we are the sport of every wind and wave, and know not, till the event hath determined it, how the next billow will dispose of us; whether it will dash us against a rock, or drive us into a quiet harbor.

What stronger breast-plate than a heart untainted?
Thrice is he arm'd, that hath his quarrel just;
And he, but naked, though lock'd up in steel,
Whose conscience-with injustice is corrupted.

A broken voice, and his whole function suiting,
With forms to his conceit; and all for nothing;
For Hec-u-ba! What's Hec-u-ba to him, or he, to
[Hecuba,
That he should weep for her?
553. LANGUAGE OF THE HEAD. Every
part of the body contributes to express our
thoughts and affections; hence the necessity
of training the whole man. The head is some-
times erect, denoting courage, or firmness;
at others, down, or reclined, expressive of sor-
row, grief and shame; again, it is suddenly
drawn back, with an air of disdain, or shaken,
as in dissent; or brought forward in assent;
sometimes it shows, by a significant nod, a
particular object, or person; threatens by one
set of movements, approves by another, and
expresses suspicion by another.
practice must make all involuntary.
As yet-'tis midnight deep. The weary clouds,
Slow meeting, mingle into solid gloom.
Now, while the drowsy world lies lost in sleep,
Let me associate with the serious night,
And contemplation, her sedate compeer;
Let me shake off th' intrusive cares of day,
And lay the meddling senses all aside.
Varieties. 1. The dullest creatures are
Where now, ye lying vanities of life!
sometimes as dangerous as the fairest. 2.
Ye ever tempting, ever cheating train!
He, who puts a man off from time to time, is
never right at heart. 3. What can reason per-
Where are you now? and what is your amount?
form, unassisted by the imagination? While
Vexation, disappointment, and remorse.
reason traces and compares effects, does not
Sad, sick'ning thought! And yet, deluded man,
imagination suggest causes? 4. Whenever we
A scene of crude disjointed visions past,
are more inclined to persecute than persuade,
And broken slumbers, rises still resolv'd,
we may be certain, that our zeal has more of
With new flush'd hopes, to run the giddy round.
self-love in it, than charity; that we are seek-
554. LANGUAGE OF THE FACE. The face, ing victory, more than truth, and are begin-
being furnished with a great variety of mus- ning to feel more for ourselves, than for others,
cles, does more in manifesting our thoughts and the cause of righteousness. 5. Is it pos-
and feelings, than the whole body besides; sible, without divine aid, to obey the com-
so far as silent language is concerned. The mandments? 6. As soon think of sending
a man into the field, without good tools, as a
change of color shows anger by redness,
fear by paleness, and shame--by blushes; child to school, without proper books. 7.
every feature contributes its portion. The
mouth open, shows one state of mind; closed, What is more low and vile, than lying? and
another, and gnashing the teeth-another. when do we lie more notoriously, than in dis-
The forehead smooth, and eye-brows easily paraging, and finding fault with a thing, for
arched, exhibit joy, or tranquillity; mirth no other reason, than because it is out of our
opens the mouth towards the ears, crisps power to accomplish it?
the nose, half shuts the eyes, and sometimes Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed.
suffuses them with tears; the front, wrinkled The breath of night's destructive to the hue
into frowns, and the eye-brows overhanging Of every flower that blows. Go to the field,
the eyes, like clouds fraught with tempests, And ask the humble daisy, why it sleeps
Soon as the sun departs. Why close the eyes
show a mind agitated with pity.
Of blossoms infinite, ere the still moon
There is a history-in all men's lives,
Her oriental vail puts off? Think why,
Figuring the nature of the times deceased:
Nor let the sweetest blossom be exposed,
The which observed, a man may prophecy,
That nature boasts, to night's untimely damp.
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
There is no merit, when there is no trial;
As yet not come to life; which, in their seeds,
And, till experience-stamps the mark of strength,
And weak beginnings, lie intreasured.
Cowards-may pass for heroes, faith, for falsehood.

Luxury-gives the mind a childish cast.

Anecdote. Tweedle-dum and Tweedledee. About the year 1720, there were two musical parties in England; one in favor of two Italians, Buo-non-ci-ni and At-til-io, and the other admirers of Handel: and the contention running high, Dean Swift, with his usual acrimony in such cases, wrote the fol

555. The eyes, considered only as tangi-
ble objects, are, by their very forms, the win-
dows of the soul-the fountains of life and
light. Mere feeling would discover, that
their size and globular shape are not unmean-
ing. The eye-brow, whether gradually sunk-
en, or boldy prominent, is equally worthy of
attention: as likewise are the temples, wheth-lowing epigram:
er hollow, or smooth. That region of the face,
which includes the eye-brows, eyes and nose,
also includes the chief region of the will
and understanding.

Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time :
Some, that will evermore peep through their eyes,
And laugh, like parrots, at a bag-piper;
And other of such vinegar aspect,
That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile,
Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.

Some say, that signior Buononcini,
Compared to Handel's a mere ninny:
Others do swear, that to him-Handel
Is hardly fit to hold a candle.

Strange-that such high contests should be
"Twixt tweedle-dum-and tweedle-dee.

True Phrenology-treats of the manifestations of man's feelings and intellect; his heart and his head; his will and understanding; and their related objects, physical 556. The images of our secret agitations of one's original character; of his excellen and moral; principles, giving a knowledge are particularly painted in the eyes, which cies and talents, and how to make the most appertain more to the soul, than any other of them; of his defects, and how to remedy organ; which seem affected by, and to par- them; of reasoning and persuading-of edticipate in all its emotions; express sensa-ucation and self-government: a system of tions the most lively, passions the most tu- mental and moral philosophy, challenging multuous, feelings the most delightful, and investigation. sentiments the most delicate. The eye--explains them in all their force and purity, as they take birth, and transmits them by traits that they are estimated, at what they consid so rapid, as to infuse into other minds the der their just value; and incline to presume, in fire, the activity, the very image, with which the proportion they feel they are slighted. 2. It themselves are inspired. It receives and re-signifies but little-to wish well, without doing flects the intelligence of thought and warmth well; as to do well, without willing it. 3. None of the understanding.

One world sufficed not Alexander's mind:
Coop'd up he seem'd, in earth and seas confin'd;
And struggling, stretch'd his restless limbs about
The narrow globe, to find a passage out:
Yet, enter'd in the brick-built town, he try'd
The tomb, and found the straight dimensions wide.
Death only, this mysterious truth unfolds,
The mighty soul-how small a body holds.

557. LANGUAGE OF THE EYES. The eye is the chief seat of the soul's expression; it shows the very spirit in a visible form. In every different state of mind, it appears differently: joy-brightens and opens it; grief, half closes, and drowns it in fears; hatred, and anger, flash from it, like lightning; love-darts from it in glances, like the orient beam; jealousy-and squinting envy, dart their contagious blasts through the eyes; and devotion-raises them, or throws them back on the mind, as if the soul were about to take its flight to heaven.

From women's eyes-this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still-the right Promethean fire;
They are the books, the arts, the academies,
That show, contain, and nourish-all the world;
Else none at all-in aught-proves excellent.
Old age is honorable; the spirit-seems
Ready for its flight-to brighter worlds,-

And that strange change, which men miscall decay,

Is renovated life. The feeble voice,
With which the soul attempts to speak its meaning,
Is like the sky-lark's note, heard faintest, when
Its wing soars highest; and whose hoary signs,
Those white and reverend locks, which move the
Of thoughtless ribalds, seem to me like snow, [scorn
Upon the Alpine summit,-only proving-
How near it is-to heaven.

Varieties. 1. All are modest, when they feel

is so great, but that he may one day need the help,
or feel the unkindness-of the meanest of mortals.
4. The more business a man has, the more he is
able to accomplish: for he learns to economize his
time. 5. A ready recollection of our knowledge,
at the moment we have use for it, is a rare and
important acquisition. 6. The passions are plead-
ers, and their violence sometimes goes directly to
the heart. 7. As a vessel is known by the sound,
whether it is whole or not, so, men are known by
speeches and actions, whether they are wise or
foolish.
All the souls that were, were forfeit once,
And He, that might the 'vantage best have took,
Found out the remedy. How would you be,
If He, which is the top of judgment, should
But judge you as you are? O, think on that,
And mercy then, will breathe within your lips,
Like man new made.

If pow'rs divine

Behold our human actions, (as they do,)
I doubt not then, but innocence shall make
False accusation-blush, and tyranny-
Tremble at patience.

That happy minglement of hearts,
Where, changed as chemic compounds are,
Each with its own existence parts,
To find a new one, happier far.

We-ignorant of ourselves,

Beg after our own harm, which the wise powers
Deny us-for our good; so find we profit,
By losing our prayers.

So very still that echo seems to listen;
We almost hear the music of the spheres,
And fancy that we catch the notes of angels.
High stations tumult, but not bliss create.

PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION.

now is, and that which is to come. 4. Teach
goodness, by precept and example. 5. Gratitude
children what is good and true, and lead them to
is the sure basis of an amiable mind.

Anecdote. Right of Discovery. A gen-
tleman, praising the personal charms of a ve-
ry homely woman, before Mr. Foot, the come-
dian, who whispered to him, "And why don't
you lay claims to such an accomplished beau-
ty?" "What right have I to her?" said the
other. "Every right-by the law of nations,
as the first discoverer."

Meanwhile, we'll sacrifice to liberty.

Remember, O my friends, the laws, the rights,
The generous plan of power delivered down,
From age to age, by your renowned forefathers,
(So dearly bought, the price of so much blood;)
O let it never perish in your hands,

But piously transmit it to your children.
Do thou, great liberty, inspire our souls,
And make our lives, in thy possession, happy,
Or our deaths glorious-in thy just defence.

Varieties. 1. Will the time ever arrive, when the air will be as full of balloons, as the ocean now is with ships? 2. Reading history and traveling, give a severe trial to our virtues. 3. It is not right to feel contempt for any thing, to which God has given life and being. 4. Four things belong to a judge: to hear cautiously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to give judgment without partiality. 5. Regard talents and genius, as solemn mandates to go forth, and labor in your sphere of usefulness, and to keep alive turn not these precious gifts, into servants of the sacred fire among your fellow men; and evil; neither offer them on the altar of vanity, nor sell them for a mess of potage, nor a piece of money. 6. The last war between the United States and England, commenced on the eight months and eighteen days; when did it 18th of June, 1812, and continued two years, end? 7. Let us manage our time as well as we can, there will yet some of it remain unemployed.

fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
When wealth accumulates, and men decay!
Princes, and lords, may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made:
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroy'd, can never be supplied.

The kindest, and the happiest pair,
Will find occasion-to forbear;
And every day, in which they live,
To pity, and, perhaps, forgive.
Full many a shaft-at random sent,
Finds mark-the archer never meant;
And many a word-at random spoken,
May soothe, or wound-a heart that's broken.

Anecdote. No hero was more distinguished in ancient times, than Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. His courage was undaunted, his ambition boundless, his friendship ardent, his taste refined; and what was very extraordinary, he seems to have conversed with the same fire and spirit, with

560. POLYGLOTT OF BODY AND MIND. Thus, we see that the body, in connection with the mind, speaks many languages; and he is a learned elocutionist, who understands and can speak them. In view of which, well might Hamlet exclaim," WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS MAN!" Observe well this strange being, as embodied in the works of the pain-which he fought. Philip, his father, knowing ter, and statuary: in what kingly wondrous manner, appear his force of altitude and looks! Who, but would covet the glorious art of making the flat canvas and rocky marble, utter every passion of the human mind, and touch the soul of the spectator, as if the picture, or statue, spoke the pathetic language of a Shakspeare? Is it any wonder that masterly action, joined with powerful elocution, should be irresistible? If poetry, music, and statuary, is good, is not ORATORY more excellent? for in that we have them all. Woe for those, who trample o'er a mind!

him to be very swift, wished him to run for
the prize, at the Olympic games. "I would
comply with your request," said Alexander,
"if KINGS were to be my competitors."
The ocean-when it rolls aloud-
The tempest-bursting from her cloud,
In one uninterrupted peal!
When darkness sits amid the sky;
And shadowy forms go trooping by;

And everlasting mountains reel--
All-all of this is Freedom's song-

'Tis pealed--'tis pealed eternally!
And all, that winds and waves prolong,
Are anthems rolled to Liberty!

A deathless thing. They know not what they do, Or what they deal with! Man, perchance, may The flow'r his step hath bruis'd; or light anew[bind Varieties. 1. Although the truth can ne The torch he quenches; or to music-wind ver come to condemn, but to save, the world Again the lyre-string from his touch that flew ; has ever pronounced its condemnation. 2. But, for the soul!-oh! tremble, and beware,-Garbled extracts from any work, are no more To lay rude hands-upon God's mysteries there! a correct representation of the work, than stone, mortar, boards, glass, and nails, are a 561. THE WRITTEN PAGE can but ill ex- fair specimen of a splendid palace. 3. Never press the nicer shades of sentiment, passion, let private interest, poverty, disgrace, danger, and emotion which the poet has painted. or death, deter you-from asserting the liber There are depths of thought, which the eye ty of your country, or from transmitting to cannot penetrate-and sublimities of flight, posterity, the sacred rights to which you which it cannot reach. The loveliest and were born. 4. What are the pleasures of the sublimest of written poetry-even that con- bodily senses, without the pleasures of the tained in sacred scripture-cannot speak to soul? 5. Themistocles, when asked to play the eye with that vivid power and intensity of the lute, replied, I cannot play the fiddle, but expression, drawn from it by the human voice, I can make a little village a great city. 6. when trained to the capacity given to it, by The skin-co-operates with the lungs in puthe Creator. Hence, the ordained efficiency rifying the blood. 7. How shall we know of preaching; hence, the trembling of Felix, that the American government, is founded as the great Apostle reasoned-" of righteous-on the true principles of human nature? By ness, temperance, and judgment to come.' So, with the production of the most consummate human genius:

For ill-can poetry express,

Full many a tone-of thought sublime; And sculpture, mute and motionless,

Steals but one glance from time.

But, by the mighty actor's power,
Their wedded triumphs come:
Verse-ceases-to be airy thought

And sculpture-to be dumb.

562. The following-is an example of the sublime, falling far short of a hyperbole; for. as St. John observes, "even the WORLD ITSELF-Could not contain the books, that should be written" on the subject of INFINITE LOVE and INFINITE WISDOM-displayed in man's REDEMPTION and SALVATION. Could we, with ink, the OCEAN fill,

Were the whole earth-a PARCHMENT-made, Were every single stick-a QUILL,

And every man-a SCRIBE by trade;
To write the LOVE OF GOD-to man,
Would drain the OCEAN dry;

Nor would the scroll-contain the plan,
Tho' stretch'd-from SKY to sky.
The mind-untaught,

Is a dark waste, where fiends and tempests howl;
As Phabus-to the world, is science-to the soul.

learning what the true principles of human
nature are and an extensive induction of facts,
derived from the study of history, and our
own observation.

Yet, though my dust-in earth be laid,
My life on earth-withdrawn;
"Twill be-but as a fleeting shade

Of night-before the dawn!

For I shall spring-beyond the tomb,
To new-immortal prime,

Where all is light, and life, and bloom;
And no more winter-time.

I had a friend, that lov'd me :

I was his soul: he liv'd not, but in me :
We were so close within each other's breast,
The rivets were not found, that join'd us first,
That does not reach us yet we were so miz'd,
As meeting streams; both to ourselves were lost,
We were one mass; we could not give, or take,
But from the same: for he was I; I, he:
Return, my better half, and give me all myself,
For thou art all!

If I have any joy when thou art absent,
I grudge it to myself: methinks I rob
Thee-of thy part.

Stillest streams

Oft water fairest meadows; and the bird,
That flutters least, is longest on the wing.

A Great Mistake. The sons of the rich so often die poor-and the sons of the poor so often die rich, that it has grown into a proverb; and yet, how many parents are laboring and toiling to ac

cumulate wealth for their children, and, at the same time, raising them up in habits of indolence and extravagance. Their sons will scatter their property much sooner than they can gather it together. Let them have their heads well stored with useful knowledge, and their hearts with sound and

563. GESTURE, or a just and elegant adaptation of every part of the body to the subject, is an essential part of oratory; and its power is much greater than that of words: for it is the language of nature, and makes its way to the heart, without the utterance of a single word: it affects the eye, (which is the quickest of all our senses,) and of course, conveys impressions more speedily to the mind, than that of the voice, which affects the ear only. Nature, having given to every sentiment and feeling its proper outward expres-virtuous principles, and they will ordinarily take sion, what we often mean, does not depend so much on our words, as on our manner of speaking them. Art-only adds ease and gracefulness, to what nature and reason dictate. Study the Gesture Engravings thoroughly.

All natural objects have

An echo in the heart. This flesh doth thrill,
And has connection, by some unseen chain,
With its original source and kindred substance:
The mighty forest, the proud tides of ocean,
Sky-cleaving hills, and in the vast air,
The starry constellations; and the sun,
Parent of life exhaustless-these maintain

With the mysterious mind and breathing mould,
A coexistence and community.

MADNESS AND TERROR.

Stretch of Thought. A fellow-student, in consequence of too close application to study, and neglect of proper diet and exercise, became partially deranged; but being very harmless, it was thought best that he should go and come when, and where he pleased; in hope of facilitating his restoration. One Saturday afternoon, he went out through the gardens and fields, and gathered every variety of flowers, from the modest violet to the gaudy sunflower, with which he adorned himself from head to foot, in the most fantastical manner; in which condition he was displaying his imaginary kingly power, on a hillock in the college green, just as the president and one of the professors were going up to attend chapel prayers; when the former observed to the latter-what a great pity that such a noble mind should be thus in ruins! the maniac hearing what he said, rose majestically upon his throne, and with a most piercing look and voice, exclaimed; "What is that you say, old president! you presume to talk thus about ine? Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed as I am. You old sinner, come here; and I will tear you limb from limb,-and scatter you through infinite space; where Omniscience cannot find you, nor Omnipotence put you together again.

care of themselves. However affluent may be his circumstances, yet every parent inflicts upon his son a lasting injury, who does not train him up to habits of virtue, industry and economy.

Anecdote. Francis I., king of France, (opponent and rival of Charles V., of Germany,) consulting with his generals, how to lead his army over the Alps into Italy, his fool, Amarel, sprung from a corner, and advised him to consult how to bring them back again.

A child is born. Now take the germ, and make it
A bud of moral beauty. Let the dews

Of knowledge, and the light of virtue, wake it
In richest fragrance, and in purest hues;
When passion's gust, and sorrow's tempest shake it,
The shelter of affection-ne'er refuse,
For soon, the gathering hand of death will break it
From its weak stem of life,-and it shall lose
All power to charm; but, if that lonely flower
Hath swell'd one pleasure, or subdued one pain,
O, who shall say, that it has lived in vain,
However fugitive-its breathing hour?

For virtue-leaves its sweets wherever tasted,
And scatter'd truth is never, never wasted.

Varieties. 1. All those, who have pre-
sented themselves at the door of the world,
with a great truth, have been received with
stones, or hisses. 2. Who has not observed
the changed, and changing condition of the
human race? 3. We are indebted to the
monastic institutions for the preservation of
ancient libraries. 4. No good can bring
pleasure, unless it be that, for the loss of
which we are prepared. 5. They, who sac-
rifice at the altar of Apollo, are like those,
who drink of the waters of Claros; they re-
ceive the gift of divination, they imbibe the
seeds of death. 6. The same misconduct
which we pardon in ourselves, we condemn
in others; because we associate a palliation
with the one, which we cannot perceive in
7. What constitutes true mar
the other.
riage?

Sheba-was never

More cautious of wisdom, and fair virtue,
Than this pure soul shall be;
TRUTH-shall muse her,
Holy and heavenly thoughts-still counsel her.
Can you raise the dead!
Pursue, and overtake-the waves of time?
Bring back again-the hours, the days,
The months, the years, that made me happy?
The heart has tendrils-like the vine,

Which round another's bosom twine,

Outspringing from the living tree-
Of deeply-planted sympathy;

Where flowers are hope, its fruits-are bliss,
Beneficence-its harvest is.